Homemade Series #1 - Plain Yogurt and Greek Style Yogurt

fresh, creamy yogurt!

In this short series, I will be sharing the how-to’s of making some super easy ingredients at home!  

So you’re thinking -  “ Uhm, why exactly should I make yogurt or anything else when its sssoooo easy to buy it from the grocery store??”

Really the question is, “Why not?”

Its so simple to make and  homemade yogurt is way tangier and creamier than the store bought variety. So when you use it to make smoothies, marinades, frozen yogurt or even to just eat plain ( with chicken biryani or with fruit and granola..yuummm) its just… better!

If saving money is important to you this is a great way to use that about-to-expire gallon of milk that you were going to throw away.  Greek Style Yogurt is super expensive.. fyi.. 

You also get to make and share something that is truly your own  : j

Plain Yogurt:

Ingredients:

Left over plain yogurt ( ~ ¼ cup per gallon of milk) – this is used as a starter. Once you’ve made your own batch of homemade yogurt you can keep using it as starter for subsequent batches.

Milk  

*If making Greek Yogurt: large bowl, cheesecloth, long bamboo skewers,  (or just a collander)

Steps:

     1. Pour milk into a large pot and bring to a boil.Once the milk has boiled, take it off the stove and let it cool until almost room temperature (slightly warmer)

    2. add the left over yogurt (if you have an almost empty yogurt container you can pour the warm milk into that and swirl around, then pour back into the pot.

    3. Pour the milk and yogurt  mixture into one big tupperware  or you can divide it among several smaller Tupperware pieces

    4. Cover with a lid and place in a warm, dark place (like a pantry) or in an oven that is off overnight. I also cover them with a kitchen towel.

    5. The next day you will have perfectly creamy, tangy yogurt!

    6. If you prefer a thicker yogurt i.e the Greek Style Yogurt  à

1. lay out your cheese cloth in a bowl and pour the fresh made yogurt into the cheesecloth.
2. Gather all the ends and tie up together.
3. Take a long bamboo skewer and poke through the knot. (At the this point if lifted up the cheese cloth filled with yogurt should be supported by the bamboo skewers enough for it to hang )
4.  Place each end of the bamboo skewer across a large bowl. So that the cheesecloth with the yogurt will be suspended in air. This will allow the excess whey to drip into the bowl.
5. Keep the bowl in the sink away from dirty dishes, soap, water, etc. for 24hrs. If you don’t want to do that you can refridgerate it but that will take up to 48 hrs for the excess whey to drip away.

              *Another option, if you don’t want to bother with cheesecloth and skewers, is to just pour the yogurt into a colander and let that drain in your sink*

6. Open the cheesecloth carefully and store your greek yogurt in an airtight container in the fridge!